Kindness

This morning, after a dreadfully long weekend of running around to work, yoga work study, my goddaughter’s first holy communion (after which I earned a shot word reward for busting out “transsubstantiation” correctly), Big Brew Day (photos to follow), a Dirty Robots gig Saturday night and then, after just a few hours of sleep, another gig at 7AM Sunday morning at the Broad Streeet Run 9 mile mark., I got this message on my phone.

Did u loose something last night?? If so… I found it.

I found it on my phone when I finally loaded all my gear into my car as crews tried to clear Broad Street while the police still held traffic at bay. I didn’t know the name of the person that sent it. It was so vague, I struggled with how to answer this message the entire ride home. It sounded kind of like a scam, or a mistake, or just a random computer bot message with no real, living, caring person behind it.

But, after checking my wallet several times, the truth is…I may have dropped something at last night’s gig. It was entirely possible. So, I checked the profile of the person who sent the message when I got home. It was a young girl from Williamstown, about my age, from a town not too far from where I live now. So, despite my occasional lack of faith in the decency of a random person helping a stranger out, I responded.

I’m sorry, do I know you?

Even that message took some crafting, as simple as it is. But, I didn’t want to give any information away, and I wasn’t sure if my simple response would somehow magically infect my computer with a virus, so I tried to keep it innocuous. Then I went about my business, unloading a car full of band gear and catching up on my weekend emails, my finances, and scheduling my coming week. Then this happened:

No .. I don’t know you .. I found a license in mcfaddens last night so I figured I’d b nice and try to look the person up on Facebook so they didn’t worry– u looked like the guy.. Sorry about that

oh. gotcha. No, I don’t think it was me. I haven’t been to mcfaddens in a while, and I still have my license, so it must be a different Ryan Walsh. but, just to check, my street address starts with xxx. Any match?

nope ZZZ! Hahaha!!! I’m so sorry.. I’ll just drop it in the mail.. Sorry, the more I think of it .. It was kinda creepy tryna look that person up on FB!!

Nah. I would have done the same thing. So…thanks. kindness comes back around to you eventually.

Aww.. Thank you.. I was starting to feel weird.. But you are right., I appreciate that.

your welcome! hopefully this other so-called “Ryan Walsh” appreciates it as much as I do. Cheers!!

I’m sure he will!! Take care!!

So, yeah. Pretty sure she wasn’t a robot. Sounds like she was someone just like me. Just another decent human being trying to look out for someone else because, even if they are a stranger, they’re still human, and until I’m convinced otherwise, everyone deserve to be treated the way you’d like to be treated yourself.

We make such big deals out of such small things in life. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our immediate needs. I had a long weekend, I’m tired, I have work tomorrow, I have bills to pay and emails to answer and the house needs cleaning and a million other things. And, I can bitch about all those things all day long (ask Monika).

But this morning I was lucky. A random note from someone I don’t even know reminded me how lucky I really am. I have a job that appreciates me and pays me well. I have a family who look forward to the rare occasions that let us all come together to celebrate. I have a group of friends who all told me “you’re finally here” when I arrived late at an event that celebrates one of my favorite hobbies. I’m in a working band that kicked ass in front of 40,000 runners in the middle of Broad Street, in a city I love (and I got to see my friends running, and kicking ass themselves).

So, Thank You random stranger I’m sure I’ll never meet. You changed my day, and I hope I changed yours.

There are good people in the world. Let them know you appreciate it. Cheers!